Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1998 09:02:23 +0800 To: ffml@fanfic.com From: "Nikholas F. Toledo Zu" Subject: [FFML] [sF] [TM!] Empty Audience Space Orchestra "Uh - Tenchi! I didn't hear you come in..." Despite Washu's best efforts to hide it (much as her 4'6"-odd frame could have tried to do so), Tenchi was still able to ogle the piece of hardware with an unobstructed curiosity. "Sasami said it was time for... is that," here he pointed at the towering equipment, "a - ?" "Karaoke machine," Washu supplied, not without some embarrassment. "I, uh, wanted to, well, do something... to rest my brain. Isn't all this," she waved the sleek black casings covering some ten of kilowatts in amplification power that happened to be the closest part of the system, "so low-tech? I mean, will you talk resistors and semi-static - " "Washu," Tenchi said, not really hearing her, "I didn't know you sang." "What? No, no." She made rapid up-down waving movements subtly signifying that she wanted him to think that she didn't want to walk about it, while she really wanted to have a chance to ask him if he wanted a sample. "Silly thing's just parts that happened to be around..." "You just happened to have a copy of the Maison Ikkoku karaoke CD lying about?" "Okay," she neatly exploded. "I bought it off of Ryoko." She tried to extract the CD from Tenchi, who gave her a glance that said that he didn't need a sample. "I... I heard you. Earlier, on the way in." Tenchi smiled, then covered it in a blush. "I thought, it couldn't be you... I mean, why would Washu be singing in her laboratory?" "Why did the chicken cross the road?" "Huh?" Washu shook her head. "Never mind. Let's go." "Because it could." Tenchi turned to Washu, who stopped. "I don't get it." She didn't turn, though. "You don't, do you." She pivoted on her heel deliberately. "Tenchi... in that fight with Kagato, you knew how powerful he was... you knew that Ryoko was powerless to stop him, that none of you were able to stop him...." She levelly set her eyes with his. "Why did you go?" Tenchi looked flustered. "Because I had to." "He let you be. Ryoko was a felon. Mihoshi was a cop. Ayeka would have gone and sent Jurai on your say-so. YOU WEREN'T NEEDED." She watched the point set in. "Why did you go?" Tenchi nodded gravely. "Because the chicken crossed." She waved the microphone before her. "Because you wanted to sing." She put the cordless in his hands, closing them with her own. She slid around him without letting go. "Because, sometimes, you have to sing... to know your heart can beat to someone else's tune... to play someone's sadness... your lips with his..." The CD began playing... the light was just so... he looked up into her eyes... with a leaning forward, he pecked her lightly on the cheek. She turned her head, and fell on his lips fully. She broke off, walking ahead to the door. "What was that for?" he asked. He couldn't figure if she choked slightly or hid a sniffle. "Because you could have done better, Tenchi." *** Bleah. Where do these things come from? I think Valentine's finally caught up with me. Switch The Nikholas F. Toledo Zu @ WWW: The Entertainment Capital of UP Village Vector, Switch, Yebah, Rain Man, goo, Pervert, Scruples, Hollie, NomaD, Blitz, Gee, Datzo, Jewel, Elf, Radler, Pinball, Mayhem, Chaos, Father, Attar @ http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Flats/3145/mezza9.html (or not) Fanfiction Page @ http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Flats/3145/fanfics.html Warp Zone #13 @ http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Flats/3145/thirteen.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------